U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says North Korea has released an American college student from prison.
However, new details from the Washington Post reveal that Warmbier's parents were told the 22-year-old was being medically evacuated while in a coma, which he's reportedly been in for more than a year.
Warmbier is due to arrive home in Cincinnati on Tuesday evening, after being evacuated through a U.S. military base in Sapporo, Japan, according to The Washington Post.
Otto Frederick Warmbier, a University of Virginia student who was detained in North Korea, being taken to North Korea's top court in Pyongyang past year.
Word of the release came just as retired U.S. basketball pro - Dennis Rodman touched down in Pyongyang, his sixth visit to the nation in the last four years.
"In no uncertain terms North Korea must explain the causes of his coma", Richardson, whose Center for Global Engagement had directly sought Warmbier's release with the North Korean government, said in a statement.
Mr Tillerson said he would not comment on Mr Warmbier's condition, but added that U.S. officials are continuing "to have discussions" with North Korea about the release of three other jailed American citizens. Now, there's a horrific update to this already-sad case: Warmbier has been in a coma for over a year after he contracted Botulism. Two of them, Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang-dok, were detained earlier this year, while the third, Kim Dong-chul, was arrested in October 2015 and sentenced to 10 years of hard labor on charges of espionage and subversion.
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There is a chance that the return to North Korea of former National Basketball Association (NBA) player Dennis Rodman could help efforts to release the three other Americans being held there.
In a statement, he said: "My first priority will be continuing to support Otto, his parents and family, whose strength and love of family inspire me every time I speak with them".
The president of an American university where a student attended before being imprisoned by North Korea says the school is "deeply concerned and saddened" to learn that he is in a coma. The University of Virginia student has not been seen in public since his trial past year.
North Korean authorities said they had security footage of him trying to steal a banner containing a political slogan that was hanging from the walls of his Pyongyang hotel. The State Department isn't known for its transparency, but if Warmbier had been in medical distress for so long, there must be more to his release than we know now.
It's not clear if Warmbier's release during Rodman's visit was purely coincidental. "Otto should have been released from the start", said US Sen.
Despite the increasingly hostile US-North Korean relationship, the Warmbiers said they were encouraged by US President Donald Trump's willingness to improve relations with North Korea.
"We continue our discussions with the North Korean regime regarding the release of the three other American citizens that have been detained", Tillerson said.
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